Hauntingly Beautiful
by ladyluck1668
Summary: There's a legend in Wardington that apartment 86 in Magnolia Apartments is haunted by the spirit of a girl who was murdered. A twenty year old Shun Kazami doesn't believes of ghosts and rents the apartment. Before he knows it, his life is turned upside down and he is determined to find the girl's murderer. (Shurisu College AU!)
1. Chapter 1: Haunted Apartment

**_Hauntingly Beautiful_**

 ** _Chapter 1: Haunted Apartment_**

 **BREAKING NEWS:** **Nineteen year old found dead in apartment. Police and detectives suspect murder. Investigation still ongoing. Murder weapon, motive, murder(s) yet to be found.**

 **-Wardington News, 1975**

There was a story that went on for nearly forty-two years in Wardington that apartment 86 in Magnolia Apartments was haunted. The story goes that there was a foreign exchange student studying abroad from Russia who was nearly finishing up her freshman year of university, was murdered in her apartment. The investigation for the murder of the college student lasted for about a good year or so before the police and detectives decided that the murder case wasn't worth their time and the case hasn't been touched ever since then. Rumor had it among Wardington residents that the spirit of the girl haunted the apartment she died in, bringing fear to the new tenants who lived in it. People have claimed that they heard screams emitting at exactly 8: 26 A.M. each day, the time she was supposedly killed among other rumors.

Twenty year old Shun Kazami never believed that story and rented the apartment because it was dirt cheap. He moved back to his childhood city due to a change in universities and his childhood house was already sold to another family when he left for Bayview. He was forced to rent an apartment because he found apartment 86 cheaper than living in the dorms at his school. The cherry on top was that when his landlady, a kind, elderly lady, found out that he was a college student, she made his rent cheaper than what it already was and the college student supposed that it was because of the spirit. When he signed the papers, agreeing to the terms and conditions, he was all set. He would move in as soon as possible and there was nothing that could stop him from doing otherwise. That is, until his best friend found out that he was living in _that_ apartment.

 _"You're living in THAT apartment?! You're crazy!" His best friend, Dan Kuso screeched. "Haven't you heard of the story? A college girl was murdered. MURDERED."_

 _Shun rolled his eyes as he sipped on his cup of green tea. When his friends found out that he was moving, they threw him a good-bye party at a café that reminded him a lot of the Misaki's_ _café, much to his chagrin._

 _"Dan's right, Shun. There's a lot of rumors about that apartment. I heard that a tenant left because he would always see floating kitchen knives." Dan's longtime girlfriend, Runo Misaki added on. His other friends, Julie Makimoto and Marucho Marukura, yelped at that rumor._

 _That's just an urban legend." Shun waved it off. He never believed in ghosts or spirits and he certainly won't let his best friend convince him otherwise. "Besides, it's too late now. I already signed the papers."_

 _"Well, alright then man. I'll see you on the other side." Dan raised his cup of orange juice. One of Shun's hazel eyes twitched in annoyance when he found his other friends raising their drinks as well, solemn expressions on their faces._

It had been nearly three weeks into school and Shun almost completely forgot about the legend. His schedule was packed; he had four courses to take care off as well as being a part-time martial arts instructor, so really, he had no time to even think about the spirit of the dead girl. As for the screaming at 8:26, he was usually at the library at around 8:15, so he could never really say for sure that that rumor was true. As for the floating kitchen knives rumor, Shun had very little household items to begin with. He mostly ate at the main dining hall or when he did eat at home, he mostly ate instant ramen or noodles that only required wooden chopsticks and a few plastic spoons and forks. He knew that eating instant ramen wasn't healthy for him, but it was cheap and he needed the money to pay rent-because hey, even if this apartment was already cheap as heck, working part-time didn't pay that much and plus, he was trying to pay for his textbooks that costed a ton of money. Besides that, he usually passed out once he came home from either work or school, and would stay passed out until the next morning, so again, Shun can't really vouch for the rumor of the spirit haunting the new tenants at night. Except, there were a few times when he woke up the next morning to find himself tucked in with a blanket, even though he swore that he didn't went under the covers that night. With those instances, he would usually brush it off, blaming it on his tiredness and sleep-muddled mind.

One day, his grandfather appeared in the front of his apartment door on a Saturday afternoon, who shook his head at the sight of his grandson's apartment.

"Why is your fridge so empty? Why are the only things I see are packs of wooden chopsticks and bags of instant noodles?" His grandfather tapped the fridge door with his wooden cane. "Don't tell me the ghost ate all of your food!"

"There is no ghost, Grandpa." Shun answered as he handed his grandfather a glass of water. "I've just been too busy-"

"Busy? Ha! Too busy to go buy food?! Give me your laptop, we're ordering real food for you, not these instant noodles you've been consuming." The younger of the two males obediently surrendered his laptop over as the elder typed who-knows-what onto Google as Shun looked at what his grandfather was doing. He was ordering groceries on a grocery delivery website.

"Neat, eh? Fabia taught that to me when she stayed with us." Grandpa Kazami grinned up at his grandson. Fabia Sheen was another one of friend Shun's friends; he met her and her soon-to-be-boyfriend, Ren Krawler, during a vacation with Dan, Marucho, and Jake(another friend) about two summers ago. Before summer ended, Fabia and Ren decided to spend the remainder of summer in Bayview and the couple stayed with Shun and his grandfather. The elder took a quick liking to Fabia and they both taught each other new things; Grandpa Kazami with technology and Fabia with martial arts.

Shun rolled his eyes as his grandfather typed and clicked in random places and just before the elder paid for the groceries, he stopped and took out his credit card, ushering Shun closer.

"Here, this is my credit card account. Use it to buy groceries. I don't want to see you eating any instant noodles or anything like that again." Grandpa Kazami said sternly, although Shun knew that his grandfather was showing his compassionate side. His grandfather rarely showed any compassion towards him, but times like those made Shun smile, knowing that his grandfather was more than just a grumpy old man.

"I will." The college student lied. Although he came from a decently well-off family, Shun didn't want to keep asking his grandfather for money; he wanted to be independent. He supposed that the next time his grandfather came over, he'd just buy some groceries to make it seem like he was 'using' the money from his grandfather's credit card. Hopefully Fabia didn't teach him to check his credit card account online.

While waiting for the groceries to arrive, the two men caught up with each other, making small talk. Dan and Runo were both attending Bayview State University while Julie was studying abroad in Australia. Marucho was offered a scholarship to a prestigious university in America, allowing him to skip his senior year of high school. When asked about what Shun was up to, the twenty year old mentioned his classes as well as partaking a part-time job as a martial arts instructor, much to the delight of his grandfather.

When the groceries came, Grandpa Kazami was quick on his feet to prepare the food, not allowing his grandson anywhere near the kitchen. In less than twenty minutes, his grandfather had made Japanese curry rice alongside dorayaki for dessert. Shun ate without saying a word, besides saying thanks for the food as well as asking for seconds. His grandfather was pleased.

His grandfather stayed until Sunday morning, deciding to leave because Shun had class the next day as well as wanting to get back home out of 'fear' of the ghost.

As the two men waited for the bullet train to arrive, his grandfather slipped him his credit card. Before Shun could refuse though, the bullet train arrived with his grandfather walking as fast as he could to avoid any arguments with him. As the bullet train began moving, Shun could only sigh in annoyance as he stuffed the card into his wallet, preparing for a walk home to his apartment. Once home, he placed the credit card on the kitchen counter, before delving into his textbooks to prepare for his classes the next day.

A month passed and just like the ghost, Shun had nearly forgotten about his grandfather's credit card. His homework began loading up and his part-time job got a bit more demanding and neglecting his grandfather's words of eating healthier, the college student continued to consume instant noodles and food from the main dining hall at school. Like the credit card, Shun could care less about the ghost at that point. He would collapse right after he forced himself to eat a pack of noodles and prepared for bed, not bothering to pull a blanket over him or anything like that. So when he would wake up the next morning with a blanket over him, he blamed it on his sleep-deprived brain for fabricating things up.

It wouldn't be long before Shun would soon remember about both the ghost and the credit card.

 _ **End of Chapter 1.**_

 _Note: *imitates Britney Spears* Oops, I did it again!_

 _No, seriously though, I did it again. Anyways, I apologize for being on such a long hiatus and when I finally do come back, I come back with another story instead of an updated chapter. orz PLEASE FORGIVE ME! Anywho, I was inspired by four different stories/T.V. shows for this story. THAT'S RIGHT; FOUR! Anyways, this is my first attempt at a mystery/drama story and I do apologize if character in here so far seems very OOC or anything like that. I also apologize if this fic has many errors; I wrote this all in a span of an hour, all without a beta reader as well. And I'm also sorry that this first chapter is very lengthy (this is the first long chapter I've ever written!) and I hope it wasn't a pain in the neck to read through it all. Anyways, please leave a review for your thoughts, concerns, hopes, dreams, fears or whatever you want for this story! I hope to talk to you soon! Bye!_


	2. Chapter 2: The Friendly Ghost

_Happy Holidays~~! I apologize for the really late update! I FINALLY have Winter Break-meaning that I literally just got out of school. ノಠ_ಠノ I would like to take the time to thank everyone who read, reviewed, favorite(d), and followed this story! Thank you for encouraging me to continue on with story! *hugs you all* ⊂((・▽・))⊃ With that being said, here are some responses to your reviews!_

 _Guest: Thank you so much!_ ´･ᴗ･`

 _Para-DX: Hello and I'm sorry that this isn't a reference to Nanana's Buried Treasure! I looked it up and I can see how you would think it was; this story and Nanana's Buried Treasure seem really similar! Wait no longer, here's the new chapter!_ （＾ｖ＾）

 _Queen of Hearts and Spades: No, this wasn't intended for Halloween, but thank you for your compliment!_ (๑•́ω•̀)

 _Sugar Spice Rush: Thank you for your review! Ah, haha...I figured that college life must be extremely hectic on top with juggling a job, so Shun must have very little time to take care of himself. Alice is going to "show up" in this chapter, so wait no longer!_ （●＞ω＜●）

 _FabiaOkamiVentus: Thank you so much!_ (=^_^=)

 _InnocentDiamond: Oh really? That's a lot of sources, and I thought that I used too many! You got me there! Don't worry about the credit card going into the wrong "hands"...just read and find out!_ o(^▽^)o

 _cherry-tree-of-life: Haha, I personally think that Shun is top concerned about college that he doesn't care much about the ghost occupying his apartment. Aw, thank you! You're the first person to mention that the blanket-tucking gesture was cute!_ (*≧∀≦*) _Hmm...let's see if your thoughts of Alice not knowing how she died true or not..._ (*ゝω・)ﾉ

 _ **Chapter 2: The "Friendly" Ghost**_

A small hum escaped the once pale pink lips of a nineteen year old girl as she tucked a strand of her once orange hair behind her ear. The girl supposed that if anybody were to walk into the apartment right now, it would either be the most terrifying or most magical thing they'd ever saw. She laughed at that thought. People screaming in shock as thin air folded a black muscle tee as well as other clothing items. The girl finished up the last of the clothes as she began concentrating on the clothes, willing them into the open drawer in their respectful places before closing the drawer.

She sighed at her completed work. "Well, that's one chore down. I really do hope he takes better care of himself next time. Why, it might have been quite a while since I was alive, but I certainly wasn't like this!"

Alice Gehabich was a nineteen year old college student who studied abroad from Russia to Wardington, Japan. It had hardly been a year since she arrived to the bustling city of Wardington when she was murdered. Thinking back about to the events before her death, all she knew was that it had been a relatively normal day, until it wasn't. All she remembered before realizing that she was dead was feeling impossibly sleepy and when she woke the next day, she had transformed into a ghost, her body sprawled over on the kitchen floor with multiple stab wounds and police hovering over her body. Ever since that fateful day, she vowed to find out her murderer. But, she found a problem: she could never leave the apartment. Her soul wasn't at rest because she was longing to know how and why she died, thus, her inability to leave the apartment. So, she found another solution; befriend the new tenants so that they could help her find out how she died. Unfortunately for the Russian girl, her idea of being friendly wasn't so 'friendly' to her tenants.

Her first tenant, a middle-aged man with an alcohol addiction, stayed in her apartment the second year after her death. Alice knew that the man only rented the apartment because it was dirt cheap and he could hardly make money; all of the money he would make would then be completely wasted by alcohol. For the first month, the Russian girl couldn't think of ways to befriend him, because if the alcohol addiction wasn't bad enough, he was an animal abuser. He had an adorable Rottweiler who Alice loved immediately when she first saw it, yet due to his alcoholism and wasteful spending, the poor dog became malnourished as well as abused due to its' owner's drunken state. With a heavy heart, Alice tried her best to scare off the owner, so that's where the screaming-at-exactly-eight-twenty-six-in-the-morning-rumor came to be. Alice would scream at exactly 8:26 A.M., since it was the usual time the tenant would drink. It took approximately a week for the tenant to be afraid of the ghost in his apartment, causing him to flee. As for the dog, the tenant was so afraid of her that he forgot to bring his dog with him, so when the now-former-landlord found the dog, he took it in.

About five years after her first tenant and eight years after her death, Alice had her second tenant, who was a poor culinary major student who had hopes of becoming a chef cook. The ghost was immediately overjoyed; it was perfect! Before her death, she had quite a talent for cooking and the girl decided that it would be an amazing opportunity for her to find out how she died via cooking for her new tenant. Unfortunately for her, it didn't end well.

About two weeks or so, Alice found a chance to cook for her tenant, when the Russian girl supposed that he was off to school. Alice concentrated on the variety of knives her tenant owned, willing them to slice and dice the assortment of vegetables that the culinary student had in his refrigerator; ghosts were unable to touch objects, but instead, they were able to control objects with their minds. Because of her concentration, Alice didn't hear the door to the apartment open and her tenant coming into the kitchen until she heard screams. She immediately faced towards the direction of the screams, the knives now in mid-air. Out of fear, Alice had lost her chance as well as a tenant, and earned a new rumor about the ghost of apartment 86.

Time continued to pass and with it, new rumors about the "haunted" apartment began to form. At first, Alice would be so distraught over those rumors. She wasn't an evil ghost who wanted to haunt people! She was just a soul who wanted some answers and of course, none of her attempts would go her way, but she knew that she just had to try if she was going to get any closure. More years would pass with the same results and at that point, she could care less if any new rumors would be fabricated.

That was...until this year.

This year, a college student by the name of Shun Kazami came to live in her apartment and he was unlike any other tenant she ever had. He, of course, had the same reason for living in this apartment like the rest of her previous tenants, but there was something about him that Alice couldn't exactly pinpoint. He kept to himself and hardly seemed to bring any friends over, making the ghost think that he rather be alone than with others-well, either that or he truly was scared of bringing friends over because of her. Hopeful as ever, Alice decided that she would try her luck again with Shun, but she decided to be a bit more cautious this time; she was rather ambitious the other times and they didn't end up well. So, instead of taking action, she decided to just simply observe the college student.

Shun Kazami was like those stereotypical college students. He really did only eat instant noodles besides eating in the campus dining hall (Alice could only hope that was true, as she herself could not confirm that for sure. She overheard the student tell his friend, some boy named Dan Kuso, that he ate instant noodles or the dining hall and told Dan to not tell his grandfather.). The apartment was untidy for nearly weeks at a time, until Shun had enough time to clean. Furthermore, he almost always passed out once reaching the apartment, collapsing on the bed and falling asleep the mere instant his head touched the pillow. Alice would always pull a blanket over him out of pity and the cycle would continue.

That is..until today.

Nearly a month and a half since Shun's grandfather came to visit him, Alice was quick to notice Shun's subtle excitement over a home-cooked meal and she understood. After all, a bowl of instant ramen was nothing over a meal cooked by a family member. And even if Alice hadn't cooked a meal ever since her incident with the culinary major student, it matters not! She was sure that this time would be different. Shun would appreciate a home-cooked meal.

Using the open laptop that was left at home due to the college student being late to class, the ghost ordered groceries on the website that Grandpa Kazami used so long ago, paying for it with the credit card that Shun had hid underneath his mattress a few days after he decided that leaving the credit card out on the counter would be dangerous and deemed that putting the credit card in his wallet would only tempt him to use his grandfather's money. Even if she wasn't born into a generation or era where technology was _this_ advanced, Alice was a rather quick learner and had a good memory, allowing her to remember exactly how the elderly Kazami ordered online. It only took a few mere minutes until the delivery came, a quick ring of the doorbell, the thud of the box of groceries, and footsteps walking off, before Alice allowed herself to open the door and retrieve the groceries.

"Thank goodness for online deliveries! I wish we had that when I was living here." She mused as she floated into the kitchen, the box of groceries floating in mid-air, trailing behind her. She immediately went to work on cooking a few takoyaki balls and omurice. Even after the incident of her culinary tenant, Alice was still able to remember the recipes for the two dishes and finished in a matter of an hour. She glanced up at the clock. 1:27. Since today was Thursday, Shun usually finishes up his Physics class at around 1:25 and it would take him approximately until 1:40 or so until he would reach the apartment. Because his Thursday classes weren't as packed as his other classes, he usually wasn't as exhausted once he came back home.

"Well, here we go!" Alice prep-talked to herself as she concentrated on the dishes of food reaching the dining table with a pack of wooden chopsticks and a plastic spoon and fork floating besides the dishes. "I hope he likes my cooking, even if it is a bit rusty after forty-two years!"

 _XOXO_

"Holy shi-" Shun nearly cussed out loud, staring at the food in front of him. His mouth started to water and he wanted nothing more but to devour the food in front of him. The fragrant small of onions, tempura, and octopus of the takoyaki filled the air and the college student could see the steam rising out of the omurice and as he neared the table, he stopped. How did the food appear here? Who could possibly-?

"The credit card!" He dashed to his room and lifted up his mattress, only to find the credit card the exact same spot that he had placed it. "Who could have done tha-what the fu-" He managed to look around his room to notice that his pile of dirty clothes was gone and were all folded neatly and were placed in his dressing drawer. He was so confused. How the hell and who the hell did this? He knew that he was a relatively poor college student who lived off of the food from the dining hall and instant noodles, but he was sure that his sleep-deprived mind couldn't conjure up real food and a clean apartment.

"Could it be Grandpa?" He wondered aloud as he walked back to his dining table. He immediately shot that idea down. His grandpa had just texted him nearly a week ago, saying that he would be in America for a small vacation for about three weeks ago and at this current time, Grandpa Kazami is in America doing whatever it is he's doing.

"The ghost?" The college student whispered before reluctantly shaking his head. No, no way. He doesn't believe in ghosts and besides, even if the ghost did do this, who's to say that she would want to poison him? He picked up his chopsticks, poking at the takoyaki balls and the omurice. They looked legit. He turned back to his discarded backpack laying on the floor, with the bowls of instant noodles peeking out of the zipper. He decided that he would throw away the appealing meal and just eat the instant noodles that he had just bought.

"I didn't poison the food, if you were wondering." Shun whipped his head around at the voice but he saw no one.

"W-Who's there?" He tried to mask the slight feeling of fear within him with an aggressive tone.

"Please eat it, I worked so hard on it." And with that, a somewhat blurry silhouette of a girl came into view, and even though he couldn't see her facial features all that well, the college student didn't need glasses or a magnifying glass to tell that that was the ghost of Apartment 86.

"Oh my God.." Was the last thing that he remembered mumbling before taking a deep breath and screaming.

 _XOXO_

"Not again! Oh, I'm so stupid! Why did I do that?! What do I do...he fainted!"

 _ **End of Chapter 2.**_

 _Note: *laughs awkwardly* Ahaha...so? I'M SO SORRY FOR THIS CRINGEY CHAPTER AND SHUN'S OOCNESS AND AHHHHH! PLEASE FORGIVE ME! (ó﹏ò｡) I can't believe it. I'm gone for a month and when I do come back, I come back with this terrible chapter. (つ﹏。) Anyways, cringiness aside, Alice appeared! Yay! But seriously though, I truly apologize for Shun's OOCness. I know that he usually isn't like this, but if you were him and you come back to your apartment to see that it wasn't the way you remembered you left it and a freaking ghost suddenly appeared right in front of your eyes, wouldn't you be freaked out too? Anyways, I'm planning on writing this story in this sort of style, where I alternate the point-of-views, although it would mostly be in Shun's or Alice's point of view. Please review your thoughts, concerns, questions, hopes, dreams, and fears for this story and because I'm on break, I might update my other stories pretty soon! And if I have enough time, maybe there will be a third chapter! ٩(^ᴗ^)۶ Whoo! I'll talk to you soon! Bye~! (￣▽￣)ノ_

 _P.S: I apologize about the almost-cuss-words that Shun nearly said in this chapter, if that offends anyone. I personally think that most college students do use profanities (haha, if you look at today's middle school students and high school students, I'm sure you know what I mean), thus why I implied it in this chapter, but I wouldn't use the full word, since 1) I am terrified if this chapter is going to get taken down because of that and 2) I'm unsure if many readers are sensitive to profanities. So yeah...hope that makes sense. Sort of. Maybe. Hopefully._

 _*Well then again, this is rated T, so..._

 _P.P.S: I decided to change a few bits of the first chapter; Shun is now a twenty year old sophomore college student and Alice died before she finished her freshman year of college. I realized after publishing the first chapter that the ages were pretty weird; it's a bit weird for a nineteen year old to be finishing up their sophomore year of college, since I was trying to go by the traditionally going-to-college-at-eighteen-thing. I really should've mentioned this first. Oh well. Okay, I'll stop so you can stop reading this extremely long chapter. Bye._


	3. Chapter 3: The Deal

*hides underneath a pile of blankets* Happy New Year?! Oh my gosh, I am so sorry for being so inactive on this story! I truly had writer's block for this story for this entire year and I FINALLY got some inspiration from my cousin when I was discussing my dilemma with him. I originally wanted this story to be posted on the last day of December, December 31st, but due to bad internet connection, that wasn't able to happen, so here it is, a year and a couple of weeks late. Before the story starts and I get into review replies, I'd like to mention that Masquerade, in this story, would be referred to as Matthew. (I know that I should have kept his original name but I think it's kind of weird for someone to be named Masquerade in real life.) But anyways, here are some replies to your reviews~:

 _Kamen Rider Evol: Thank you~!_ _(＾ω＾)_

 _InnocentDiamond: I'm sorry that Alice's death was very grotesque! I blame this all on me watching too much Investigation Discovery and one of the most frustrating things to watch is to watch a whole case being unsolved, even today. Ahaha, I feel like Shun screaming is WAY too OOC, but hey, who wouldn't scream if you saw a ghost?_ _(・・；)_

 _Sugar Spice Rush: Well, I'm glad that you liked the part where Shun was terrified of Alice! I was worried if it seemed to be a bit too OOC-which it is-but I'm happy that someone liked it! Ah well, let's see if he'll finally regain his conscious to eat!_ _｛・ω-*}_

 _cherry-tree-of-life: Ooh, 'Ghost Whisperer' seems interesting! I want to check it out now! I watch too much Investigation Discovery, so that could possibly explain why Alice's death is so gory. Ahaha, well, who wouldn't be terrified of a ghost?_ _( 〃．．)_

 _FabiaOkamiVentus: Oh, thank you so much for understanding my poor attempt at some humor! *hugs you* Ah, thank you for pointing out my mistakes! I often times am forgetful of my tenses. Thank you so much for your encouragement~! ⊂((・▽・))⊃_

 _Guest:_ _Well...here's an update~!_ _＼(￣O￣)_

 _ **Chapter 3: The Deal**_

Shun stared at the apartment door in front of him, his hand shaking as he tried to insert his key into the door lock. It had been approximately a week since the last time he had actually set foot into his apartment ever since the...incident.

xoxo

 _"Oh my God.." Was the last thing that he remembered mumbling before taking a deep breath and screaming._

 _"Not again! Oh, I'm so stupid! Why did I do that?! What do I do...he fainted!"_

 _..._

 _A splash of water hitting his face woke Shun up from unconsciousness, leaving him sputtering and coughing as he sat up. As he wiped the remaining water droplets from his face with the palm of his hand, a voice that he had heard earlier spoke._

 _"Oh, thank goodness you're awake!" He slowly turned his head towards the direction in which he heard the voice and saw the same blurry silhouette of the ghost of Apartment 86 as well as cup of water floating in mid-air besides her._

 _Trying his hardest to not scream, he bolted out of the worn-out couch that the ghost must have somehow set him on, and dashed towards his bedroom, grabbing his discarded backpack from the floor in the process. Quickly shoving in a random and somewhat decent amount of clothing in his backpack alongside his grandfather's credit card, he ran out of his bedroom and towards the door._

 _"Oh no! Wait! Please don't leave!" The ghost's plea was pitiful, but now wary of the rumors that he had heard about the ghost, he fumbled with putting on his shoes before stumbling out of his apartment. He kept on running and didn't bother to look back at his fully exposed apartment door and the blurry silhouette with an arm outstretched, as if asking him to stay. Shun continued running and finally made it back to his school's campus grounds and headed in the direction of the school's dormitories. He still didn't even stop running until he had reached his friend's dorm room door and pounded on the door with such aggressive force that it seemed as if the poor door would break from its hinges. It didn't take long until his friend, Matthew, opened the door._

 _"Who is it-oh, Shun. It's you. What's wrong?" Matthew asked worriedly, noticing Shun's heavy breathing and disheveled person._

 _"Matt...the ghost...it's...it's real!" Shun managed to wheeze out in-between his short breaths._

 _"Wait, what?"_

 _..._

 _"Shun, it's been a week now. You really can't just hide out here in my dorm forever." Shun glared at his friend who was sprawled out onto his bed with a highlighter and a psychology textbook. The raven-haired male was currently lounging on the small couch which was also his makeshift bed. For the past week, he had been staying in Matthew's dormitory room and Shun was profoundly grateful for his friend's generosity alongside the fact that his friend had somehow managed to get a single person dorm, which was quite rare for college sophomore students. While it had been difficult for him to adapt to his new surroundings, he was able to get along quite well, despite the fact that his textbooks were back in his apartment and that he only had at least two decent outfits._

 _"Matt, you know I can't go back there. Besides I-"_

 _"You're a broke college student with no other place to go, I get it. But Shun, think about it. We're college students. We're constantly stressed out and we all deal with stress differently. You did mention a couple of times last week that you started having migraines over that one lab assignment or whatever. I think that the stress is getting to you, so you probably just started hallucinating about that ghost." The blonde male tried reasoning it out._

 _The raven-haired male nodded slowly, trying to comprehend his friend's words. "But the rumors about the ghost-"_

 _"Shun, the first tenant was an alcoholic and I'm pretty sure you know what people say and do when they're drunk. The second one was a culinary student and I'm pretty sure you know how difficult it is for culinary majors to get jobs. And again, the stress most likely got to them." The psychology major raised an eyebrow._

 _When Shun didn't make any indication that he was convinced with Matthew's reasoning, the blonde male sighed. "All right, all right. Okay, how about this: you go back to your apartment and if it was just a figment of your imagination, move back. If not..." Matthew sighed once more in defeat, "I guess you could stay here until you find somewhere else."_

xoxo

When he finally managed to get the key through the lock, he turned the door handle and cautiously stepped inside the apartment. He took a look around his apartment and found out that, for the most part, everything was exactly the way it was the day he left it. A few things were reorganized a bit here and there, but other than that, nothing was damaged or broken. Either from adrenaline or the false courage that Matthew had just recently gave him, Shun hesitantly called out, "Hello?"

A few moments passed with no answer and Shun began believing that Matthew was right, that he was probably not in his right state of mind that Thursday afternoon. He wasn't a biology major by any means, but was it that inhumane amount of ramen noodles that he had been consuming for almost half of the semester finally had an effect on him? Probably. He made a mental note to himself to start eating healthier from now on and to stop living off of instant noodles when a reply back startled him out of his thoughts.

"Y-You're back."

He turned to the direction from which he heard the voice so fast the he swore he could have gotten whiplash. The same blurry silhouette came into his view and the college student felt as if his knees were about to give away. The male opened his mouth to say something but his throat suddenly felt dry and he was unable to say anything so he opted instead to nod.

As if sensing his fear, the ghost spoke instead. "I...I didn't think you were going to come back. I...I thought that you were going to be like the rest of them." The last part was whispered but to Shun, it rang loud and clear.

"The-The rest of them?" He asked, surprised at himself for actually managing to speak.

"The other tenants...I never got this far." The ghost's confession sounded like a mixture of innocence alongside pity, but to Shun, who had spent more than half of the semester listening to Matthew talking about the human behavior, it sounded a lot like the words of a serial killer...or was it psychopaths? Sociopaths? Either way, he really SHOULD pay more attention to the psychology major...that is, IF he's still alive.

His silence must have been either suspicious or odd, since the girl quickly added on, "N-No. What I mean is, I've never gotten this far with such a close interaction with any of the other tenants before. You're the first."

"W-Why would you want a close interaction with the other tenants?" The college student mentally scolded himself once the words left his lips, reminding himself that the spirit probably wanted to murder the tenants living in her apartment as vengeance for her own murder.

"So...so I can finally be free from here. It's been forty-two years." The spirit of the murdered girl replied back truthfully and it was then that realization finally hit Shun. The girl has been dead for forty years and counting and never got any closure for her murder. He couldn't even imagine being stuck in the same place you were murdered for eternity or the pain that she must have felt all of those years. "I've been trying to get close to the tenants so that they could help me find my murderer. It looks like it hasn't been working." She let out a sad laugh.

"I-" He started before yet another realization dawned on him. So that was why she cooked and cleaned for him that fateful day! She was trying to get him to help her through simple gestures."So that's why you did..." He motioned about the relatively clean apartment, "everything. You wanted me to help you."

The spirit nodded. "Yes. I apologize for scaring you. I really didn't mean it." She said rather bashfully, looking away from him. Up close and once his fear dissolved, Shun realized that the ghost no longer looked like a blurry presence. Although she looked like a relatively clear ghost, he could still make out some of her features. He reasoned out that when she was still alive, she must have been beautiful with somewhat wavy hair and large, innocent doe eyes. Her outfit, which consisted of a long-sleeved blouse and a long skirt, gave away her time era.

"I'm sure you meant well and I'm sorry for acting the way I did." The college student felt rather awkward of his past actions and mentally scolded himself for being so ridiculously stupid.

The girl giggled slightly and Shun couldn't help a small smile escape his lips. "That is quite all right. I suppose that I would have reacted the same way you did if I ever encountered a ghost as well." Silence settled upon them and feeling uncharacteristically brave, the raven-haired male broke the silence.

"My name's Shun Kazami and I'm pretty sure you know this." He introduced himself, ready to lift a hand for a handshake before stopping mid-way, remembering that ghosts can't physically touch anything.

A small smile appeared on the ghost's face. "I'm Alice Gehabich and it's a pleasure to meet your acquaintance, Shun." She answered back politely.

Once again, silence settled upon them and with new profound sympathy towards Alice's tragic demise, the college student spoke up again. "Alice...I know that this is a sensitive topic, but...do you remember anything remotely significant that happened the day before you died?"

Alice's smile slowly disappeared. "I...nothing much happened that day, it was quite normal. Except...I must have been very tired or something must have happened, since I don't recall feeling myself getting killed. I didn't know I was killed until I woke up the next day and found myself as a ghost. I...I don't know anyone who would do this." She whispered the last part.

Filled with sudden desire to bring Alice some closure, Shun said determinedly, "I'm not promising that I would find your murderer, Alice, but I can promise you that I'll try my best to bring you at least some closure on your death."

The spirit nodded, a small smile returning back to her lips. "Thank you, Shun. I'll hold you to it."

xoxo

"Seeing that you're still here and alive, I assume that the ghost of that haunted apartment was just a figment of your imagination then?" Matthew asked as he grabbed a seat next to Shun. The two were in a lecture hall alongside a couple of hundred other students, waiting for their biology professor to come in.

The raven-haired male scoffed. "Far from it. But by the way, how much do you know about murders?"

The blonde male furrowed his eyebrows, clearly confused. "Murders? Well, not that much, but well enough to probably find a good motive. Why?"

Shun smirked a bit mischievously. "Well, get ready then. There's a murder case I need you to help me with."

 _ **End of Chapter 3.**_

 _Note: Ahahaha...I didn't touch this story for over a year and this is what I come with? I apologize that this chapter is the epitome of terrible! This is essentially the chapter to get me out of this writing slump that I've been experiencing and I'll try my best for a better fourth chapter-LMAO, watch me update the fourth chapter an eternity later. :') But anyways, yay! Shun's conscious again and no longer terrified! And yes, Matthew/Masquerade is a psychology major! LOL, my reasoning for his psychology major was because of the anime's first season, where the biggest plot twist of our childhood was when Masquerade was Alice's alter-ego. For some weird reason, I somehow connected that plot twist to psychology and poof! He's a psych major! Anyways, I am so sorry that this chapter is, yet again, so OOC. I know that in the anime, Shun would never run away but hey, who wouldn't be when they found out that there really was a ghost in their house? Please review your thoughts on this chapter and I'll try my best to update much more frequently~!_


	4. Chapter 4: A Helping Hand

_Review Responses:_

 _Sugar Spice Rush: I felt that Matthew was close enough to Masquerade since the two names start with "Ma" but now that I think about it, I really should have just kept Masquerade. I wish I would've explained it better in the last chapter, but the two of them just met this year in college so I wouldn't consider them 'close friends'? Oh, I've been wanting to watch Criminal Minds! Unfortunately, I don't have Netflix but I've heard a lot of people raving about it! (・∀・)_

 _Innocent-Diamond: Hmm...Masquerade majoring in Criminal Justice seems a bit ironic to me...especially since Season 1 was mostly about him obsessed with becoming the best Bakugan brawler through evil ways. Ooh, thank you~! That seems like a good location for the two of them to find some clues/insight on Alice's death...(*ゝω・)ﾉ_

 _cherry-tree-of-life: Ooh, thank you for the recommendations~! Yep, Shun's working on a *really* cold case but who knows what he'll find? ( ﾟoﾟ)_

 _Guest: Ooh, that sounds interesting! I'll definitely check it out~! (o^^o)_

 _SoapyDopey: Thank you so much for your kind words~! ｡^‿^｡_

 **Chapter 4: A Helping Hand**

"You've got to be kidding me." Were the first words that came out of Matthew's lips as he let out an incredulous scoff. "Shun, what are you on-"

"The entire school year that you've known me, how many times have I joked?" The raven-haired male drawled sarcastically as he rolled his eyes. Well, he supposed that the other male took it better than he expected. After all, it wasn't everyday that you hear a friend telling you a supernatural occurrence that happened to them. "Look, I know that this sounds ridiculous-"

"What do you mean, 'sounds ridiculous'?! That _is_ ridiculous!" The blond huffed in desperation. "Look, Shun, if you're really _that_ desperate, I guess you could stay in my dorm for a little while longer-"

"Matt, I'm serious." The computer science major paused, which caused the psychology major to stop midway through his rant. "The rumors about the spirit of the girl in my apartment are true."

"You've got to be kidding me." Matthew repeated once again, running his fingers through his blond hair. He looked to find Shun as stoic as ever with an arched eyebrow raised at him. "Okay, so you're not kidding. But what are you going to do? This case hasn't been touched in nearly _forty_ years. The detectives back then couldn't even solve it, so what makes you think that _you_ are able to solve it?"

"Forty years ago, technology wasn't advanced as it is today. If we could get a hold of the evidence left behind at the crime scene and use technology from today, I'm sure we'll be able to solve the case." Shun responded back simply.

"Okay, so you got me there. Yes, we do have better technology than they did in the 70's, but _where_ and _how_ are we going to get the evidence? It's been forty years. Don't you think they're going to throw away the evidence at some point?" Matthew argued back.

Shun was silent for a split moment. He hadn't thought about it that far yet. It was a 'spur-of-the-moment' situation, especially since he didn't want to upset Alice, and without thinking it through, he made her a promise that he wasn't even sure that he could keep now that he thought about it.

"Not now. The professor's coming in." Was what the raven-haired male finally responded as he pulled out his laptop from his backpack as their biology professor walked into the classroom.

"Touché." The blonde scoffed as he followed suit with taking out his laptop as well. Looks like he's going to have to pry it out of Shun as soon as class was over...

xoxo

"Hey, where are you going?" Matthew asked as he followed Shun. Biology was their last class of the day and more often than not, they would hang out either somewhere on campus or at Matthew's dormitory.

"To the police station. Maybe they have still have some of the evidence of the crime scene still there." The raven-haired male answered as he continued walking, pulling out his phone in the process to find the location of a nearby police station.

"You're not really going to do this, are you?" The blond groaned in frustration, although he continued following Shun. "Shun, we have midterms and finals coming up soon! Are you seriously going to do this _now_?"

"Consider it a break from all of the studying." He answered back coolly, although he hadn't been busy cramming as most of the other students that he saw around campus.

Matthew groaned loudly once more. "If I fail probability and statistics, my grandfather's going to kill me!"

"Does that mean you're helping me with this 'ridiculous' case then?" The computer science major smirked slightly, although he was grateful for the other male for somewhat agreeing to help him solve it.

"Don't rub it in." The psychology major scoffed, although the grin on his face gave him away. "Now, where to?"

xoxo

"What are we going to say?" Was the first thing the blond male questioned as the two of them stood outside of the police station's doors. While there were a couple of other police stations around Wardington, they decided that the police station that was the closest one to the school's campus had a higher chance of possibly having the evidence than the other police stations. "Yes, hello officer. We're investigating the death of the girl who died in Magnolia Apartments, do you mind giving us the evidence obtained from the crime scene?"

"This is exactly why you're not meant to be a literature major." Shun sighed. "And besides, what kind of police officer would just _give away_ crime scene evidence to us?" Matthew did bring up a good point, though. He forgot to take into account that nobody in their right mind would willingly reopen a murder case just because of two college students who asked, especially if their majors had absolutely nothing to do with criminal justice-

"Do you two need anything?" The two college majors turned around to find a dark bluenette woman in a long sleeved dress that reached her ankles. Although they had just met the strange woman, there was an aura about her that screamed both graceful elegance as well as danger.

"Are you currently working in the law enforcement field?" Matthew was the first one to speak up. When they first met in biology, Shun was wary of the blond male. The other male had strong confidence in himself, but there were at times when he was more arrogant than he was confident. And in that exact moment, the raven-haired male was silently grateful for Matthew's confidence.

The female laughed, though it sounded sinister more than anything. "I do, of course!" And with that, she reached into a small black handbag that rested on her shoulder and pulled out an ID card. "Sellon, parole officer. And you are?"

"I'm Matthew and this is my friend, Shun. And it's...nice to meet you, Miss Sellon." The blond male forced a polite smile whereas forcing one would be too difficult for Shun in regards to someone like Sellon, so he opted for a small nod instead. "We would like to speak to a police officer, that is all."

Sellon laughed once again. "Have you not seen my ID card clearly? I am an officer. What would you like to speak to me about?"

"In regards to a homicide case." Shun finally spoke up. He was hoping that Sellon wouldn't be interested in a grotesque case such as a homicide case and would kindly leave the two of them alone, but he had a feeling that she wouldn't give up.

"Oh, a homicide case? Which one?" Her dark green eyes lit up and it was obvious that the mention of the murder case piqued her interest.

"The case about the foreign exchange student who was murdered in her own apartment." Matthew answered.

The female paused for a moment, as if she was in deep thought before she spoke. "Oh yes, the so-called spirit residing in Magnolia Apartments. I assume that you all know that those rumors about that apartment was false, yes?" They hesitantly nodded at her question. "If you know that those rumors are false, then what do you need to ask?"

"We were wondering if there was any evidence obtained from the crime scene that are still here in the police station." Shun responded, hoping that she would just answer them with a 'yes' or 'no'.

"And why is that?" The parole officer raised an eyebrow, to which the raven-haired male sighed internally.

"I live in Magnolia Apartments and one of my neighbors is an elderly man who used to live in the apartment next to the girl who died. He was lamenting about how her death was so tragic and I was wondering if there was any evidence left from the crime scene so that the case could reopen." The raven-haired male replied, coolly. He was quite impressed with himself for managing to think up of a lie right on the spot, although the initial part of the statement was true.

Sellon scoffed. "The case hasn't been touched in over forty years and there has been little to no evidence that could even remotely help with solving the case. Please do not waste your time with such things." With that final statement, the female walked past them and into the police station as the two college students could only stare at her retreating figure.

Matthew sighed. "Well, we tried. Don't be so upset, Shun. I'm sure there are other ways we could solve this case. Who needs the police anyways?" Shun had to scoff a bit at his friend's words of encouragement as they walked towards the direction of their school, but he couldn't help but feel disappointed. The police station was his only hope of giving Alice some closure but now that they've just been shot down, what could they do now?

xoxo

"Oh, hello, Miss Sellon, I didn't see you there. How are you?" A disheveled brunette male asked as he handed Sellon a cup of coffee. Joe Brown was a criminal justice major at Wardington University and had hopes of becoming a police officer. When the Wardington Police Station were having interviews for interns, he immediately jumped on the opportunity to learn directly from the professionals.

"Oh, Joe! You will not believe what just happened to me! I ran into two college students on my way in here and they were asking for the evidence on a murder case! But it wasn't just _any_ murder case, it was the foreign exchange girl's case!" Sellon laughed as she took the coffee cup from Joe.

"Oh?" He asked as he handed out another cup of coffee to an officer that walked past them. "What are their names?"

"Matthew and Shun, if my memory is correct. Oh, but why does it matter? They are wasting their time worrying over a case like that." Just then, a silver-haired male with somewhat spiked up hair approached Sellon. "Oh, Anubias. Is something the matter?"

"We've got another case-oh, thank you, Joe-and we need to go now." Anubias turned on his heels and started to walk off, but not before grabbing a coffee cup from Joe.

Sellon sighed. "Well, I must be going now. I'll talk to you later, Joe!" She waved slightly as she rushed to catch up with her co-worker.

"Bye, Miss Sellon!" The brunette male called out before he placed the tray of coffee cups on a nearby table. Fumbling, he managed to get his phone out of his jean pockets and go through his list of contacts before he pressed on the number he needed to call. Pressing on the call button, he tapped his foot impatiently, waiting for the other person on the other line to pick up.

"Hello, Detective? I think the case is going to be reopened." Joe smiled as he looked out a nearby window. Looks like he's got some detective work to do to find this Shun and Matthew first...

 **End of Chapter 4.**

Note: Whoop whoop~! It didn't take me a year to update this time! :;(∩´﹏`∩);: Anyways, yay, new characters~! Joe is an intern at the Wardington Police Station, and my reason for why he's a criminal justice major is kind of bizarre... In Season 1 of the anime, I felt that he was the most...responsible one out of all of the Brawlers (besides Marucho, Shun, and Alice, of course) so with that in mind, he became a Criminal Justice major, LOL. I honestly had such a hard time deciding about Shun's major, but Innocent-Diamond's Sound of Affinity (if you haven't read it yet, please do! Innocent-Diamond is a queen!) had Shun majoring in the STEM field and I drew inspiration from that~! Anyways, summer's here and I will definitely be writing a lot more, so stay tuned for updates on my other stories as well~! Bye bye~!


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